U.N. VOTE URGES SYRIA TRANSITION

Nonbinding resolution calls on regime, opposition to reach a political solution

The U.N. General Assembly approved an Arab-backed resolution Wednesday calling for a political transition in Syria, but more than 70 countries refused to vote “yes” because of its support for the main opposition group and fears the resolution could torpedo a new U.S.-Russia effort to end the escalating conflict.

The United States signed on as a co-sponsor of the resolution, saying it would promote a political solution. But key Syrian ally Russia urged a “no” vote, saying it was “counterproductive and irresponsible” to promote a one-sided resolution when Moscow and Washington are trying to get the Syrian government and opposition to agree to negotiations.

The resolution, which is not legally binding though it can carry moral weight, was approved by a vote of 107-12 with 59 abstentions.

It welcomes the establishment of the Syrian National Coalition, the main opposition group, “as effective interlocutors needed for a political transition” and notes “wide international acknowledgment” that the group is the legitimate representative of the Syrian people. It also strongly condemns President Bashar Assad’s regime for its escalating use of heavy weapons and “gross violations” of human rights.

Unlike Security Council resolutions, which are legally binding, General Assembly resolutions cannot be enforced. But approval of an assembly resolution would counter the paralysis of the deeply divided Security Council, where Syria’s allies, Russia and China, have vetoed three Western-backed resolutions aimed at pressuring Assad to end the violence.

In the war-torn country, rebel fighters battled regime troops inside the walls of the sprawling central prison compound in Syria’s largest city Wednesday, hours after blowing open the gate with twin car bombs in an attempted jailbreak, activists said.

The orchestrated assault began at dawn, but by nightfall, the rebels had not dislodged regime forces or freed some 4,000 prisoners held there, according to two pro-opposition monitoring groups.

Across Syria, the Internet was restored after a blackout of more than eight hours, the second nationwide outage in a week. Syria’s Communications Ministry blamed a rebel bombing which it said cut a cable north of the capital of Damascus but gave no details. Earlier, the state news agency SANA had linked the outage to a technical problem.

The Syria conflict began with a popular uprising in March 2011 and escalated into a civil war that has claimed more than 70,000 lives.